Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder

Brideshead Revisited is Evelyn Waugh's stunning novel of duty and desire, set amongst the decadent, faded glory of the English aristocracy in the run-up to the Second World War.

A Nostalgic Look at a Bygone Era

The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege they inhabit.

• Enchanted first by Sebastian Flyte at Oxford.
• Then drawn to Sebastian’s doomed Catholic family, particularly his remote sister, Julia.
• Charles ultimately comes to recognise his spiritual and social distance from them.

About the Author: Evelyn Waugh

Evelyn Waugh (1903–66) was born in Hampstead, the second son of Arthur Waugh, a publisher and literary critic, and brother of Alec Waugh, the popular novelist.

Key Milestones in Waugh’s Career:

• 1928: Published his first work, a life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and his debut novel, Decline and Fall.
• Followed by notable works such as:
  • Vile Bodies (1930)
  • A Handful of Dust (1934)
  • Scoop (1938)
• Military Service: Commissioned in the Royal Marines in 1939, later transferred to the Royal Horse Guards, serving in the Middle East and Yugoslavia.
• 1942: Published Put Out More Flags.
• 1945: Released the iconic Brideshead Revisited.

Later Works:

• Men at Arms (1952), the first volume of the Sword of Honour trilogy, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
• Followed by Officers and Gentlemen (1955) and Unconditional Surrender (1961).

Critical Acclaim

'Lush and evocative ... Expresses at once the profundity of change and the indomitable endurance of the human spirit' – The Times